How many MBA graduates here? I will be taking the GMAT this coming weekend and will apply in early January to the following schools: UCLA, USC, and UCI. I could go into one of the fully employed programs and have my company pay, but I need a break and want the full experience.

Any advice on other schools to consider and whether or not an MBA actually helped your career would be appreciated.

 

I'd recommend Duke, but I might be biased.

There is no cookie-cutter answer whether the degree helps your career or not. All depends on where you are today and what you want to do in the future. Is this supposed to be a career change (definitely helpful)? Are you looking to stay in the same field, just hoping to make more money (look at actual and opportunity costs involoved, and I'd say you may not recoup your investment if you already make a good living)? Is this for personal growth reasons (if you can afford it, go for it!)?

One thing I can say, though -- the full-time day-time programs are definitely better than going part-time or in one of the weekend/executive programs. The value of the education does not so much come from the books you read or the profs you listen to, but from the interaction with and the experience of the other students.

And in choosing the school, think about what you want to do after graduation and who you want to work for. Most of the blue-chip companies have a list of 10 schools that they actively recruit from, so if you want to work for Procter & Gamble, for example, you might handicap yourself if you go to USC. Find out where the companies you work for hire new employees. Along the same line, if you want to enter a Finance career, an MBA from Wharton is probably better than one from UCLA; for Marketing a degree from Northwestern might be seen as better than one from Stanford. Personally I don't like such pigeon-holing, but as they say, perception is reality. Check out the bi-annual Business Week rankings to get an idea which schools are perceived as strong in the various disciplines.

 

I do- Education Administration and Mrs. GM3 does in Reading in Education.

 

I do. Just finished last week. I did it online. Since I work full time I didn't want to deal with going to class. You get out of the education what you put into it. I think the program was good especially since you could make up your own hours. Didn't have to take the GMATs or anything, just needed 3 years work experience.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ulrich
[B]I'd recommend Duke, but I might be biased.

 

Just remember, you could go to Wharton for Finance focus in your MBA and come out with average grades, and lowered expectations out of your classmates or go to a "lesser" of a school, come out with much better grades, a higher quality of networked peers.....it's all what you put into it.

I personally chose to go the route of a part-time program that is nationally known, just in case I plan to move out of state.

 

QuickS and Luder,

What programs did you do? I think about getting my MBA, but I'm not sure how much it will help me. Just wondering what you guys did. Thanks.

ERIK

 

Excerpt from Business Week.


A Bear Market in B-School Applications
As the likelihood of a hot job fades, so does the MBA's allure

Recessions usually are good for business schools. Applications flood into such august institutions as the Wharton School, Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business, and Stanford University as the young and talented of the corporate world opt to hide out in graduate school, earn an MBA, and emerge when jobs are plentiful again.

For the first two years of the current downturn that pattern largely held. But this year, business school is suddenly less of a draw. Applications for the B-school Class of '05 -- the students who will hit the books this fall -- have fallen by as much as 30% at some top schools compared with last year. The University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, for example, has received 27% fewer applications for the autumn term than it did in 2002.

Why the drop-off? For one thing, fewer would-be applicants can afford to forgo their salaries or pay annual tuition of $30,000-plus. [...] But the big reason many twentysomethings may be hanging on to their jobs, however unrewarding, is that the once-coveted MBA no longer comes with the implicit guarantee of a big-bucks job offer on graduation. "When the downturn is this prolonged, the optimism fades," says Daphne Atkinson, vice-president of the Graduate Management Admission Council, which administers the GMAT entrance exam.

It's easy to see why America's fledgling manager class is balking these days. Over the past two years, potential MBA candidates have watched many B-school grads flail upon re-entering the real world. Consider that some 30% of grads at BusinessWeek's Top 30 MBA programs had no solid job offer at graduation in 2002. Two years earlier, only 2% went begging. So while an MBA might enhance a would-be executive's prospects if the economy picks up, the current crop of overachievers isn't about to forsake a regular paycheck. Says a New York investment banker who had planned to go to B-school: "I want to hold on to my job."

You can't blame him, since there are few signs that the job market is improving. Many B-schools say job prospects are similar or only slightly better for the Class of '03. At Dartmouth's Tuck, for instance, some 29% of spring graduates had no job at commencement. A typical example is Christopher Blaydon. Despite dozens of interviews, he has yet to land a job in strategy consulting or strategic planning.

And it's not just job prospects -- affordability is another issue. Many potential MBA candidates have found their paychecks shrinking and their savings and investment portfolios dwindling -- which makes financing a pricey MBA more difficult. Meanwhile, lower investment yields have left some schools with fewer fellowships and scholarships to attract students. Sherry Wallace, admissions director at University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School, says her institution will award one-third fewer fellowships this year than last. [...]

With fewer people to choose from, B-schools are digging deeper into their applicant pools to fill the fall roster. "Right now, many [schools] are still working their wait lists even though it is fairly late in the game," says Joseph P. Fox, associate dean at Olin. As the big schools get less picky, lower-ranked ones could find it hard to fill their slots.

The problems may not end there: The next application cycle -- for the Class of 2006 -- kicks off in November, just four months from now. "It's difficult to predict what next year will look like, especially in light of continued economic uncertainty," says Julia Min, assistant dean at New York University's Stern School of Business. If the job picture doesn't improve soon, the B-school blues may well continue.

 

Damn Ulrich, that was depressing as hell. I'm still gonna go for it, but maybe a fully employed program may be the better option since I can have tuition fully financed.

How does financial aid work? If I opt to go full-time, I'll have to take on student loans. In addition, I have to pay for the S and additional mods. Does financial aid cover tuition in addition to all living expenses?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by erik
[B]QuickS and Luder,

What programs did you do?